Khalia Hopebringer
by jakusthegamer
Summary: A female human named Khalia became a planeswalker not to long ago. She then became the ruler of The Followers of Serenity. She now has a new issue to handle, the possible destruction of her clan and plane.
1. Chapter 1

**This is the first chapter of my Magic The Gathering Lore fanfiction. It is titled Khalia Hopebringer. It is about a female planeswalker from the plane of Tarkir. If you enjoy, leave a reply and maybe some suggestions. Thanks for reading :)**

Tarkir, one of the most hostile planes of the multiverse; it is ruled by five clans of immense strength: The Mardu Horde, The Abzan Houses, The Sultai Brood, the followers of The Jeskai Way, and The Temur Fronteir. Each of the five clans is deadly in their own way, and they show their different strength through the symbols they hold.

The Mardu, represent themselves with the swiftness of the Dragon's wings; their speed in battle is rivaled by none. The Mardu are known as a war-hungry clan, traveling Tarkir for their next great battle. They are lead by their Khan, the ferocious Zurgo Helmsmasher. Zurgo is an Orc warrior who gained the title of Khan when Sarkhan Vol sacrificed his men as he became a planeswalker, for this he holds a grudge for Sarkhan..

The Jeskai, represented by the cunning of a dragon's eye; none are more enlightened than the Jeskai. The Jeskai pride themselves on their enlightenment, as it takes much effort and training to earn. Their Khan is currently dead, killed by the estranged Zurgo Helmsmasher as he attempted to kill Sarkhan Vol.

The Abzan, a clan that endures like a dragon's scale; they take pride in defense of their families. Many of their members are orphans, brought in after the death of their clanmates. These orphans are from many other clans, but mostly the horde of the Mardu. They are found in the desert of Tarkir, where they only fight the other clans to maintain trade routes. Their Khan is Anafenza, a human warrior who leads her clan from the front of battle.

The Sultai, represented as the Ruthless Dragon fang, they are murderous fiends, killing for the Rakshasa that made them the powerful beings they are today. The Sultai are a decadent group that rules from the steamy jungles of Tarkir. Their Khan is the naga Sidisi, she leads her clan into battle for their goal to bring all clans under one banner, their own. They will stop at nothing to reach their selfish goals, they would even sacrifice their own members, which they already do.

The Temur, savage like a Dragon's claws; none have seen creatures as big and ruthless as the ones the Temur train, nore will they see anything else again. The Temur are survivalists who live in the harsh snowy environments of Tarkir. Their Khan is Surrak, a mighty warrior who claimed his title by besting a bear in hand to hand combat. He now wears the skin of this bear upon his own body as a trophie of his triumph in battle.

Although only five clans exist on Tarkir, there is a new rising clan; they call themselves The Followers of Serenity. They are new to this world, founded only sixty years ago by an angel named Rhilla Hopebringer. They are now ruled by a human, Khalia Shalla, who became leader after the demise of Rhallia in a battle against the Sultai Brood. Khalia is a great leader, so great that her followers believe her to also be an angel.

The home of Serenity is itself named Serenity. It is a temple, resting upon a mountain; it is cloaked in clouds, hiding it from the rest of the world. The only ways to the Temple are by air, and the two hundred thousand steps from bottom to top. Although few have reached the top on foot, those who have are now of the highest ranks of Serenity; Khalia was one of the few lucky people to reach the top of the mountain.

Khalia is only twenty years old, but she carries the huge responsibility of ruling her own clan. She has charcoal black hair, sea blue eyes, and the figure and face of the world's most beautiful human. Her dress is white like the clouds that surround her clan's temple. She is the greatest leader in the history of Tarkir, and she knows this very well.

We bring the start of our story to a meeting between the highest ranking members of Serenity. Their meeting is set at a giant table, and at the end of this table sits Khalia in a great stone thrown. She lays her head in her hand, bored of the constant rambling of her clan mates. The other members of the clan are arguing over the Mardu Hordes constant attacks of the mountains base; keeping possible followers from joining the clan.

The head of the argument is Krotta, an Orc shaman who joined the clan only five years ago. His right eye is blinded by a scar he received years ago, and his armor is made of steel. "The Mardu are not a power to underestimate. If we keep letting them attack new members, our clan will fade out as fast as it appeared."

The man against him, an Ainok warrior, spoke right after in rebuttal; "They are a bunch of tiny whelps. They are nothing to us; they have no way of scaling our mountain, thus are no threat. And as if we need members from the ground below, only those that fly the skies should be allowed to follow the way of Serenity!"

The Ainok's yelling caught the attention of Khalia, who then began her own argument, "Do you not remember that your own leader came from the ground? If you keep up your repeated outbursts of heresy, I will have you removed from the high table!" Khalia's angry yelling caused the Ainok to stop his rambling. "I know of the horde, I was born of the horde; so was Krotta. If anyone knows what to do, it is us. Now, in my opinion, we should drive the horde back to the cliff side outposts."

The rest of the table then nodded in approval, Khalia then moved on to other matters "Now, to the issue of the planeswalker Sorin. I have met him before; I met him the day my spark ignited. I met him on Innistrad, his home plane. I am unsure of his motives on our plane, but I am sure that they are noble." She then paused to ponder on the future, she stared towards the ceiling. "Hmmm…. I must seek him out and learn what he is after here."

"Are you crazy?" spoke a human at the far left of the table. "There is no way we can let you leave. What if you end up in the shoes of Rhilla? We cannot afford to lose another leader to the surface."

"It is not your decision to make! I will do as I please!" yelled Khalia to the man who apposed her. "Now, who is going to go with me to find Sorin?" She paused for the hands of her clan members, but only one hand raised; it was Krotta, the Orc shaman.

"I will go with you, if only to protect you on your journey sister." Spoke Krotta, he walked to Khalia's side as she stood on her feet. "Are there any others as brave as me?" Nobody answered, only Krotta would be joining Khalia.

"I guess we should be on our way," said Khalia, "I hope to return to you my friends. Make sure the temple doesn't fall apart while I'm gone."


	2. Chapter 2

After her argument with the Serenity Senate, Khalia began her preparations for the journey ahead. There were very few things she needed to bring; a weapon, food, camping supplies, and first aid. She walked into her living quarters with all but a weapon. Her weapon of choice was her great-sword, Luna. Her sword was much larger than her own body, but she had no trouble wielding it to slay her enemies. Its blade was curved like a crescent moon, and at the end of the hilt rested a gem; a gem that looked like a white moon. The blade was made of stainless black-steel from the center of mount Serenity; crafted by the most skilled smiths of the clan.

She laid her head in shame, "If I hadn't lost Jurull, I would be able to pack lighter…." Jurull was the blade she had been given as a child; it was a dagger used by her adoptive father, a high ranking member of the Abzan houses. She lost her blade when she visited Innistrad so many years ago; a vampire wizard stole it from her and turned it to ash before her eyes. She wouldn't have been so upset, if her adoptive father didn't give it to her on his death bed.

Her adoptive father, Nalta Shamalla, was a very kind man. He was there the day Khalia's clanmates were defeated in battle. He freed her from her birth father, and from death later in the clan. She was eternally grateful to her new father, and his death was the event that caused her spark to ignite. She saw that day as a blessing and a curse; it both gave her the courage of battle, but the sadness of losing one so important to her. She held his death on her heart heavily, keeping her from bringing new people in.

"Letting go of the past is the fastest way to enlightenment…" spoke a voice from the doorway. It was the Ainok that apposed her and Krotta in the senate meeting. "Rhilla told me that, the day she died. She was talking about my grudge of the surface dwellers… She said that I needed to let go of my past… I apposed her on many issues, even as her most trusted student…" He then began to shed tears, "I only appose those I care for… And, I don't want to see another light be extinguished by the dark."

Khalia stood from her bed and walked to the bird warrior, she new how he felt and only wanted to comfort him. "If you are so worried, come with me and Krotta. Together we are unstoppable." She then grabbed his wing, "What do you say, will you come with us Cammila?"

The Ainok paused, but eventually shook his head in approval. "Give me time to tell my students good-bye, I owe them that much. I'll also need to gather a few things; I'll meet you and Krotta at the steps." He then left Khalia's room, moving quick to his important task.

As soon as Cammila was gone, Krotta stepped into the doorway. "What was that about?" he asked Khalia.

"Turns out that he wants to join us. He'll meet us at the steps to accompany us on our journey." Khalia responded. "Let's see if he lives up to the name Flying Death."

* * *

><p>The steps to Serenity are many; two hundred thousand 'many'. The trek from bottom to top is the hardest part of enlightenment; but top to bottom is a different story. As you may guess, the mountain is littered with the bodies of people seeking enlightenment, and the bodies of the rejected. There are many perils to the mountain; traps set by the inhabiting goblins, falling rocks from unstable cliffs, snowy avalanches, and of course the goblins themselves. Those who make it to the top are always injured; same goes with those who make it back down.<p>

At the entrance of the Temple stand Khalia and Krotta; they are waiting for their companion Cammila who was off saying his farewells to his many students. They stood at the entrance for ten minutes before Cammila showed up. Upon his back was a large pack, carrying many books and scrolls. "I thought we agreed on packing light?" questioned Krotta of Khalia.

"Do not worry Shaman, these words are very much needed for our journey." scoffed the Ainok Cammila. "We need them, in fact, for we will never make it down the mountain without them. Three of the scrolls contain a complete map of the passages through the mountain, showing all places traps and cliffs will be an issue; three others contain locations of all horde camps, six of them are maps of the other clan locations, four are scripture of Rhilla's words, one book contains the languages of the land, and all the rest are maps and literature for fun. I also brought my spear; for protection of course. I also…" He was then interrupted.

"Alright alright, we get it!" screamed Krotta. "Now, can we get on to our journey down the steps; I'd like to make it back before the Serenity celebration. Plus, Shell wants me back before the youngling's birthday; last time I was late I had to sleep on the porch."

"Let it be known that the fearless Orc shaman has one fear, the wrath of his wife." laughed Khalia. The Orc blushed in embarrassment, he knew that Khalia's words were true; he could face a thousand naga and never be fazed, but he could not bear to see his wife angry at him. "Now, shall we start down the mountain?"

The other two nodded, but as they began to walk to the entrance, they were called to by a small child. It was Khalia's only pupil, an Orc child named Bratta. She told the child that she was leaving, and to stay home while she was away. "Teacher!" he yelled as he ran to the three at the entrance of the temple.

"Bratta, I told you to stay home." Khalia said in disappointment. Even though she was angry, she embraced the child in her arms. "I won't be gone long, I promise."

"Please look for daddy while you're gone… Everyone else says he's dead, but I still believe in his words." said the child as he began to cry.

"I will… If I have to, I'll bring him back on my shoulder." Khalia said as she stood the child on his feet. "I'll do whatever it takes to bring your father back, I promise."


	3. Chapter 3

**Been confusing Ainok's (wolf people) with Aven (bird people); so from now on Cammila is an Aven, not an Ainok. I'm sure you must have all been very confused, I'll make sure to type in Aven. Other than that, enjoy the new chapter!**

After saying their goodbyes, the group was on their way down the two hundred thousand steps of mount Serenity. Khalia had but a small back on her back, but it was overshadowed by her giant greatsword, Luna. Krotta, the Orc Shaman, had only his staff and a bottle of Serenity Rum; these two items were all he needed for the journey ahead. Cammila, the Aven Wizard-Warrior, was packing one of the biggest packs any person had ever seen; it had many books and scrolls in it for the journey. Cammila was also bringing the required food and tools they would need to survive.

"It's time for us to go…" said Khalia as she took the first step down the mountain; the other two then followed. "I guess we should find a way to make our time fly… Any stories to share, boys?" she asked he companions.

"I have one!" screeched Cammila as he jumped over a few of the steps. "This is of my first love, Artemis; she was actually my only love, and eventually my wife… Well, let me begin by describing how I met her. It was my first training lesson in the temple; Rhilla was teaching her class of her signature technique; Angel Gust. Angel Gust is a move used by many winged followers; it is when you leap into the air and give your enemy one big gust of furious wind to knock them back. During her demonstration, a beautiful Aven caught my eye; her feathers were white as snow, her wings were as long as a spanning plane, and her beak was perfectly smooth.

"I had never seen anyone as beautiful as her in my entire life; but I was no Casanova. I had tried many attempts to catch her heart; I wrote her letters, sent her flowers, I even tried presenting my love in a song. Each attempt was failure… The letters I wrote never made it to her eyes, the flowers caused her to have an allergic reaction, and I was a stumbling fool who could even say hello to her.

"After each attempt had failed, I gave up on my love; this caused me to become very depressed, distracting me from my lessons. Rhilla noticed my change of pace; she saw that I had given up on her favorite part of life, love. Rhilla had never seen me so depressed; she knew something had to be done, or I would have caused myself harm.

"Rhilla's eventual plan was of pure genius; having me save Artemis from her demise. I was not in on the plan, so Rhilla was hoping for a miracle to happen when it came time. The plan was simple, or at least it was to Rhilla; 1.) Have a bunch of bad guys kidnap Artemis 2.) Have me save her 3.) Then we would be in love. Her plan went into motion perfectly; Artemis was first kidnapped by a group of Abzan Aven.

"I, of course, saw the whole thing and chased them down to one of the desert cities. Once there, I searched all buildings that I could; I eventually found her, tied up, in an Abzan barracks. At first, I tried to convince the Abzan to let her go, but they were having no part of it. They wanted Artemis for one goal, to learn our leader's secret. I acted quickly, striking each one with a death blow to the chest; but there were just too many of them to make a difference; this train of thought distracted me, giving the Abzan a weak spot to strike. They took their opportunity and struck my down to my knees.

"And as I sat on the ground, all I could hear was the laughter of the other Aven. They were mocking my clan, calling us week and worthless for training a bird like me. But, just as I lost hope, I heard another voice; Artemis was crying for me to get up. Her cry for help was what gave me the courage to fight on, and get out of the current situation. As her cries hit my ear, I leapt from my position straight into the air. Once there, I gave the Abzan an Angel's Gust, knocking them all against the wall; many were knocked out on impact, the others were disoriented and unable to move.

"As the Abzan lay on the ground confused, I ran towards Artemis and untied her; she was dazed from the gust, so I had to carry her out of the barracks on my shoulder. After escaping, I flew her to a safety back home at the temple. When she awoke, she fell in love with me; we've been inseparable since." As Cammila finished, they reached a large cave on the side of the path. The outside of the cave was decorated with the Serenity banner and large pikes poking from the rocks. The pike were covered in crusty old blood, and the skulls of the dead.

"Damn Goblins; they keep acting like they belong here, but they don't." said Krotta with an annoyed voice. Just then, a spear flew past Krotta's head; his eyes widened, and a band of Goblins began to rush from the cave. The companions readied themselves for combat; Krotta pulled out his staff and took a drink of Rum, Khallia grabbed the hilt of her greatsword, and Cammila dropped his bag.

The first three Goblins went straight for Khalia's legs, slashing her up good. She retaliated and flung the ankleshankers with her blade, sending them off of the mountain. She began running towards the group of Goblins, blade to her side and anger on her face. "TAKE THIS YOU BASTARDS!" she yelled as she cut two of the Goblins into a thousand tiny pieces in a mere five seconds. The blood of the goblins splattered all over her new dress, making her even angrier. She used this rage to grab one of the Goblins by the throat, crushing its windpipe in her hands.

The next seven Goblins surrounded Krotta, each one snarling at the Orc with foam at the mouth. "Bunch of punks if you ask me." he said as he readied his staff. "I call this one, Dance of Draconic Illusions." He smiled, and then began to wave his hands and staff in the air. He was dancing a spell onto the Goblins, but all they saw were flying giant lizards in the sky above. The Goblins were in awe of what they thought they saw, they were dragons in their eyes, but clouds to the others. "Now… Drop dead!" yelled Krotta, throwing his hands to the ground. What the Goblins then saw, were the dragons racing to them, causing them all to have heart attacks and die on the spot.

The next group of Goblins was pestering Cammila, throwing spears at him as he readied his attack. He stood on one leg, crossing the other over his knee. His feathers then began to become like steel, repelling each of the Goblins spears from his body. "_Steel Wings of Death_…"he whispered. Just then, the Goblin's stopped moving, and then shattered into millions of pieces of flesh. "Foolish underlings, never mess with an Avon who knows the Serenity pose." he scoffed.

"Shall we get back to our mission?" Khalia said as she dragged her blade on the way to Cammila. Cammila nodded, they then began down the mountain again; leaving a mess of blood and guts for travelers and other Goblins to see.

"So who's next?" laughed Cammila.

"I guess I could take a crack at a tale for you guys." said the Orc as he put his bottle of Rum to his mouth. He took a sip, and then said. "I think I'll tell you about my time in the horde. Sound good to you guys?" he asked; the others nodded and let him begin, "Let's see here… I was born to my mother and father on the day Zurgo helmsmasher became a general. It was a dark day at the cliffs; a great battle had just been fought between all five of the clans, and many of the horde had fallen in battle that day; my father had been killed as well.

"My mother, bless her heart and soul, was left to take care of me on her own. She was the only one I had while I was young; she was the one I looked up to for my childhood. My mother was a wonderful person, something uncommon to the Mardu. She was the one that taught me the art of dance-magic…" he stopped and lowered his head, "She gave my life purpose and meaning. She taught me all I needed to know… Before her eventual death.

"Her death was one that hit me hard, causing me to go into a complete downward spiral. It was on a cold winter day; we had just eaten our 'before battle' feast and were heading out to battle. My mother left me at the camp, telling me that I was not needed on the battlefield. Little did I know that one of our own members would become a planeswalker and kill everyone there… I held a grudge on that day, but I found the light in Serenity.

"Believe it or not, my journey up the mountain was quick; the Goblins were no trouble, and I am a master of finding and neutralizing traps. For me, I never had any truly interesting stories to my name. But, if I had to choose one, it'd be the time I killed a group of giant monsters. It all started like any other day; I was watering my garden at home, when Red came to me in tears. She was spouting some nonsense about 'monsters' and 'kidnapping'. I had no idea what she was talking about, but I did sum up that her son had been taken away by beasts.

"I was semi-correct about my theory of 'beast kidnapping', so I convinced her to give me directions. Turns out that these 'beasts' were Mastodons that had escaped an Abzan holding pen. I had to go on my own, only God knows why, and ended up getting caught between a rock and an elephant place. And there I was, ready to fight off five giant elephants by myself; with staff in hand, I readied for the giants at hand. My first move was the obvious, Dance of Wind and Fire; my go to dance. But, of course, it was to no avail; so I got ready for my next big move, but was almost stomped in the process.

"So my next dance was the Dance of Wicked Intent; that's the one where I make an ally turn on one of their own. I got one of the elephants to stab the other with its tusks, but the others turned on it and killed it straight up. So next move had to end it; so I got my ass shaking to the moves of the Dance of Eternities, my favorite instant killer illusion dance. I danced them into their graves, making them believe they were aging at twenty years a second. Theirs lives ended in seconds, each one falling to the ground with their hearts exploded.

"Oh yeah, and Red's son wasn't kidnapped by them. I found him playing with a blue ball only two miles away. Red sent me to find her kid, who wasn't even lost; how crazy is that." He paused at a huge hole in the ground on the trail. "Yeesh, almost died there hehehe." The Orc looked down the hole to see that it entered a cave full of upward spikes. On those spikes laid dead lifeless bodies covered in blood. From inside the cave growling could be heard. Just then an ice elemental jumped out of the cave. It was large and covered in blood and flesh from those that had fallen into the hole. It had the face of a Goblin, ten faces of Goblins to be exact. As it leapt from the cave it screamed at the three journeymen. "Great, another fight!" yelled an excited Krotta. "YIPPEE!"


End file.
